brick

It's my birth certificate.

I sat down next to the pretty young woman on the bench at the side of the lake. “Hello Jollity!”

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?”

“Look at my T-shirt!” I pointed to the I ♥ JOLLITY printed on it. “I know that you and Fiona meet every day after you, Jollity, have been to school. This is the best bench, next to the lake.”

“My name is Harry. I am the big surprise that Fiona promised you. I want to tell you the truth about Fiona. Do you want to hear the truth?”

“Where is Fiona? Why can't she...”

“Jollity, I must tell you the truth, I discovered the truth about Fiona about three years ago.”

“She was very unhappy as a small child. Her parents weren't nasty to her, they were just not there. She does not remember what her parents looked like. Her sisters looked after her and hated her. She was so much younger, she was a nuisance, as useful as a pet skunk.”

“One day, when she was five, her two sisters dressed her in a skirt and a blouse, gave her a small suitcase of things, and put her on a train to visit her aunt in the country. They told her that her aunt would be waiting on the platform at the other end.”

“This was all lies. She got off the train somewhere and saw a woman who looked just like the mother she had always wanted. She ran to the woman, put her arms around the woman's waist and cried ‘Aunty’. The woman's heart went out to the little child, the little child dressed in funny clothing, the little child so happy. The woman took her home with her.”

“The little suitcase of things contained one thing – a brick. This broke the woman's heart – how could anyone be so unkind to a little child?”

“Aunty gave the child the name Fiona and was kind to her. Fiona stayed with Aunty...”

“Oh, yes! Fiona lives with her aunt. She is a very kind woman. Fiona is very fond of her.”

“And Fiona is very fond of you, Jolly. I know that, more than just fond.”

“You sound just like Fiona. Are you Fiona's brother, Harry?”

“Fiona has the same parents as me. Here, do you want to see my birth certificate? It's not an original, it's a copy.”

Jollity took the piece of paper. “Your name is Harry Wordsworth and your parents are Ken Wordsworth and Kin Wordsworth. Oh, it that the famous Wordsworths? They are always on TV. Fiona hates them, she never watches TV, because the ‘Worthlesses’ are always on TV.”

“Yes. I have told you about Fiona and Fiona will tell you the truth about me; but you must hold Fiona's hands to give her the courage to do that. I will go and get Fiona now.”

I sat down next to the pretty young woman on the bench at the side of the lake. “Hello Jollity!”

Jollity put her arms around me. “Oh, darling Fiona, it's so good that you are here. Your brother Harry was here and made me all confused. I don't know what to believe. He told me that...”

“It's all true, Jolly. Did you like Harry? Tell me that you do, it's important to me.”

“It's all true, Jolly. Aunty gave me the name Fiona. I know who my parents are. Aunty is not my aunt, but I still love her so, and I love you too. That is the big surprise that I promised you, well, not that I love you, that's no surprise.”

I looked Jollity in the face, a face full of love and confusion. “I'm sorry, Jolly, I have confused you. I wanted to tell you before, but I was afraid, afraid of being pushed into a children's home and being sent to school and being away from you. But now I am of age and I can do what I like and tell you the truth about me, like why I never went to school. And about Harry.”

“I love you too, Fiona. You must give me time to understand all this. Is your name Fiona or not?”

“Jolly, take my hands in your hands and look at this. It's my birth certificate. It's not an original, it's a copy.”

Jollity took the piece of paper. “Your name is Harry Wordsworth...”

“Welcome, welcome back to the Jay Kay Bahr TV Show. Before the break we talked to Ken Wordsworth and Kin Wordsworth, the famous Wordsworths, about their new book, their exciting new film and, of course, the new TV series starting next week. And they are still with us, on the show.”

The two Wordsworths smiled into the camera – big applause.

“But first, as always, we have on the Jay Kay Bahr TV Show our mystery guest.”

A roll on the drums and a pretty young woman carrying a small suitcase entered the studio out of a dark corner and walked over to Bahr's desk. Bahr smiled and said “Hello and welcome to the Jay Kay Bahr TV Show. What is your name?”

“tell you about a brick and the strange things you can do with a brick.”

“Hey, wait a moment, this is not a home improvement program, this is the Jay Kay Bahr TV Show.”

“Have patience! I have a very strange brick.”

“When I was a little child, I was very unhappy, unwanted, unloved. My parents were not cruel to me, they were never there, I never saw them. My elder sisters looked after me. They hated it, they hated me, I was just the little dummy.”

“One day, when I was five, my two sisters dressed me in a skirt and a blouse, gave me a small suitcase of things, and put me on a train to visit my aunt in the country. They told me that my aunt would be waiting on the platform at the other end.”

“And there she was, Aunty, she looked so kind, I felt so happy, I rushed up to her and embraced her. She took me to her home, I felt so happy. She opened the suitcase – my things were not in it – just a brick. Aunty laughed – a very odd laugh it was.”

“My happiness started with a brick. Aunty brought me up, I stayed with Aunty for fifteen years, and I'm still happy. Aunty is a wonderful person and she is still alive and still wonderful.”

“My parents are still alive. I discovered who they are when I was sixteen, also that Aunty is not my aunt.”

“It was the brick that did it. When Aunty saw the brick in the suitcase it broke her heart – how could anyone be so hurtful to such a little child? She gave me a new name, a new identity and looked after me like a mother.”

“And this here is the suitcase and here is the brick. Just a house brick.” The cameras zoomed in on the brick.

“But this brick started my happiness, this brick broke Aunty's heart, and this brick can do more than that. You think that it is just a brick. Just watch this!”

She turned, threw the brick to the feet of the Wordsworths, shouted “My name is Harry Wordsworth, my name is Harry Wordsworth.” and left the studio.